Burner



v.Pzme 16, 1%36. H. J. KEELEY BURNER Filed Sept- 30, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet l ",l H Um x for,

H J. KEELEY June 16, 1936.

BURNER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 30, 1933 TI M. L m

June 16, 1936. H J KEELEY 2,044,215

BURNER Filed Sept. 30, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented June 16, 1936 UNETED STATES PAT 8 Claims.

This invention relates to a burner for solid, granular fuels, such as fine steam coal. The principal object of the invention is to provide a burner which can be employed to efiiciently burn 5 the cheaper grades of coal and extract a high percentage of heat units therefrom.

Another object of the invention is to provide a burner in which the combustion gases will be thoroughly and intimately admixed with heated combustion air before reaching the flame area.

Further objects are to provide a continuous type burner in which fresh fuel will be constantly fed into the gasifying area; in which a violent spiral or whirling action will be imparted to the air and combustion gases to intimately admix them; and which is adaptable for placement in the fire boxes of any of the conventional types of heating plants, boilers, etc.

Other objects and advantages reside in the de- 99 tail construction of the invention, which is designed for simplicity, economy, and efficiency. These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the in- 5 vention reference is had to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof. Like numerals refer to like parts in all views of the drawings and throughout the description.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a typical burner embodying the present invention. In this view, portions of the burner have been broken away to illustrate the interior construction.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section therethrough, taken on the line 2-2, Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail perspective view illustrating the type of grate bar employed in the invention.

Fig. 4 is a detail view illustrating the action 4 of the grate bars.

Fig. 5 is a detail enlarged section through the grate and air conduits taken on the line 5-5, Fig. 2.

Construction 55 fuel opening I3 and the top with a discharge opening I4. The discharge opening I4 is covered by means of a refractory plate I5 supported thereover upon fire resisting pedestals iii. A series of traveling grate bars I'I passes immediately below the fuel opening I3 over suitable supporting sprocket wheels I8.

A pair of air conduits I9 and 23 is positioned below the upper reach of the grate bars H. The air conduit I9 is fed from an air supply line 2| positioned on one side of the burner. The conduit 23 is fed from a similar air supply 22 positioned on the other side of the burner. The conduits I9 and discharge through special orifices which will be later described. The supply line 2| is provided with a branch line 23 extending upwardly on the right side of the bowl II. The air supply 22 is provided with a similar branch conduit 24 extending upwardly on the left side of the bowl II. The branch conduits 23 and 2d terminate in fire resisting nozzles 25 which extend through the wall of the bowl II on opposite sides, in opposed directions and at a series of different elevations in the bowl II.

A spring actuated damper 26 is positioned in each supply line so as to automatically control the amount of air passing into the branch lines 23 and 24-, and the pressure in the conduits l9 and 2B. The dampers 26 are preferably provided with outwardly extending handles 21 connected with springs 28 which constantly urge the dampers 26 toward the closed position across the branch lines 23 and 24. The tension of the springs 28 can be adjusted by a suitable adjusting nut 29.

Fuel is fed to the traveling grate bars H by means of a continuous. conveyor 30 terminating over the forward extremity of the grate bar series. The fuel is constantly fed to the conveyor 30 from any suitable hopper through a feed chute 3|. The ashes are removed from the fire box by means of a suitable ash conveyor 43.

.It is desired to call particular attention to the construction of the grate bars I1 which are illustrated more in detail in Figs. 3, 4, and 5. These bars are preferably cast integrally with a longitudinal beam 32 extending from end to end of the bar for supporting a series of spaced apart, T-shaped members 34 having inclined corrugated fuel-supporting surfaces 33. Below each surface 33 the sides of the T-shaped members are curved inwardly toward each other terminating in a relatively narrow bottom edge. A series of wedgeshaped members projects from one side of the beam 32 between each set of surfaces 33. These members will be herein designated as the upper deflector prongs 35. A series of wider, flat-topped projections project from the beam 32 at a lower elevation and opposite to the upper deflector prongs 35. These will be herein designated as the lower deflector prongs 36. The beam 32 terminates in end members carrying lugs 38, preferably provided with elongated heads as illustrated.

The series of grate bars are connected together by means of suitable elongated links 39 which are passed over the elongated heads of the lugs 38 and thence turned sideways so as to be locked in place thereon as shown in Fig. 4. The end members are also provided with openings 49 for receiving the teeth of the sprocket wheels IS. The openings 40, however, may if desired be simply sockets at the bottoms of the end members. It is preferable, however, to have them pass completely through the members so that they will clean themselves of ashes, coal, etc. When assembled on the series of links 39, the upper deflector prongs 35 pass into the adjacent bar between the faces 33 thereof and rest upon the lower deflector prongs 36 of the said adjacent bar.

The upper walls of the air conduits l9 and 20 are formed with a series of laterally extending orifices 4|. The orifices M on one of the conduits, for instance I9, extend upwardly adjacent the right side of the T-shaped members 34, as shown in Fig. 5. The orifices of the adjoining conduit, for instance 20, extend upwardly adjacent the left side of the T-shaped members 34, as shown in Fig. 5.

Operation The air supply lines 2| and 22 are supplied with air from any suitable source, preferably preheated through any suitable preheater so that it will enter the conduits at a relatively high temperature. Coal is continuously fed to the grate bars I! by the conveyor 30. As the coal passes across the fire opening 13 it will burn with sufficient intensity to release combustible gases into the interior of the bowl ll. During the forepart of its travel across the fire opening, the air from the orifices M of the conduit 23 will pass upwardly against the curvated surface on the left of the T-shaped sections 34 which will deflect it to the left over'the deflector 35 at an angle. As the burning coal passes over the conduit [9, the orifices 4| therein will project air against the 'right curvated surface of the T-shaped sections 34, as shown by the arrows in Fig. 5.

Therefore, the gases arising at the fore part of the bowl I3 are thrown to the left and the gases arising at the rear part of the bowl are thrown to the right. This imparts a spiral, whirling action to the gases in the bowl II which forces them into close contact with the heated bowl wall and intimately mixes the hot gases with the incoming air to form a perfectly combustible mixture. The whirling action of the gases is assisted by the heated air entering tangentially through the nozzles 25.

The intimately mixed, combustible gases percolate through the porous material of the bowl and through the perforations [2 to the exterior thereof. The bowl is therefore entirely surrounded by a zone of hot combustible gas which is constantly oxidizing or burning to produce an incandescent, gaseous envelope entirely around the bowl. Excess gases, which do not pass through the bowl, exit under the cap l5 as an incandescent gaseous mixture.

It is desired to call attention to the fact that with this device all long flames are eliminated. The gases are intimately mixed at a high temperature so that they burn instantly with practically no flames to create an incandescent gaseous envelope for the bowl. The carburetion zone of the gases is relatively long and effectively agitated at a relatively high temperature so that no carbonaceous material can escape oxidation and practically perfect combustion is obtained from the fuel. Very little ash is left upon the grate bars as they descend over the rearmost sprockets. Should any clinkers or other fusible material form upon the grate bars, it will be broken loose therefrom by the rising and breaking action of the upper deflector members 35 as they pass over the sprockets 18. As illustrated in Fig. 2, a suitable wire brush 44 may be provided to scrape and clean the grate bars before they re-enter the combustion zone.

The burner may be installed in any suitable heating plant. The position of the walls of a typical boiler fire box is indicated in broken line at 45. It will be noted that the incoming fuel travels a relatively long distance within the highly heated fire box so that all moisture is eliminated and it is practically at the gasifying point at the time of deposit upon the grate bars.

It will be noted that a longitudinal groove 46 is formed along each side of each lower prong 35. These grooves are for the purpose of catching and holding fuel particles until they have been consumed so as to prevent them from passing through the grate.

It is desired to call particular attention to the fact that the incoming air from the conduits l9 and 20 and from the nozzles 25, together with the combustion gases from the grate, are contained or enclosed within the limited space of the bowl I2. This results in a compression thereof which causes them to ignite with a compressive or explosive-like effect. This high compression of the confined gases causes both flammable gas and air to be forced through the porous wall of the bowl to cause a surrounding area of surface combustion about the bowl.

Attention is directed to the manner in which the fuel gases are distilled under the hood and trapped until thoroughly mixed with the proper amount of oxygen for complete combustion thereby aifording ample opportunity for the generation of radiant heat by surface combustion and otherwise without the customary flame pressure.

While a specific form of the improvement has been described and illustrated herein, it is desired to be understood that the same may be varied, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired secured by Letters Patent 1. A fuel burner comprising: a series of traveling grate bars, said bars each consisting of a beam extending transversely of the line of travel; a series of spaced apart members having fuel supporting surfaces extending laterally of said beam; upper deflector prongs projecting from one .side of said beam between and below said surfaces and extending beneath and between the corresponding fuel supporting surfaces on the next adjacent grate bar; and lower deflector prongs extending from the opposite side of said beam directly opposite said first prongs and beheath the upper prongs of the adjacent bar, said members being T-shaped in cross section with the stem portions coacting with said prongs and having their sides curved upwardly to direct air passing between the upper prongs and said sides obliquely through the spaces between said fuel supporting surfaces.

2. In a fuel burner having a combustion bowl, means for imparting a whirling action to the gases in said bowl comprising: a travelling grate positioned below said bowl, there being a first series of inclined passages through said grate for directing air in one direction; and a second series of oppositely inclined passages through said grate for directing air in a different direction the paths of travel of the passages of the first series being out of alignment with the paths of travel of the passages of the second series; a first series of air nozzles below said grate at one side of said bowl, adjacent the path of and communicating with the first series of passages; and a second series of air nozzles below said grate at the other side of said bowl, adjacent the path of and communicating with the second series of passages, so that the air passing through said grate at one side of said bowl will be inclined in one direction and at the opposite side of said bowl will be inclined at an opposite direction so as to create a whirling eifect in said bowl.

3. In a fuel burner having a combustion bowl, means for imparting a whirling action to the gases in said bowl comprising: a travelling grate positioned below said bowl, there being a first series of inclined passages through said grate for directing air in one direction; and a second series of oppositely inclined passages through said grate for directing air in a difierent direction, the paths of travel of the passages of the first series being out of alignment with the paths of travel of the passages of the second series; a first series of air nozzles below said grate at one side of said bowl, adjacent the path of and communicating with the first series of passages; and a second series of air nozzles below said grate at the other side of said bowl, adjacent the path of and communicating with the second series of passages, so that the air passing through said grate at one side of said bowl will be inclined in one direction and at the opposite side of said bowl will be inclined at an opposite direction so as to create a whirling efiect in said bowl; and means for projecting air tangentially through the side of said bowl in the direction of the air whirl caused by said grates.

4. A fuel burner comprising: a longitudinally traveling grate; an open bottomed fire pot positioned above said grate; a first series of longitudinally extending passages through said grate, said first series of passages being inclined upwardly toward one side of said grate; a second series of longitudinal passages through said grate, the passages of said second series laterally alternating with the passages of said first series and being inclined toward the opposite side of said grate; a first series of longitudinally extending air supply slots beneath the front portion of said grate parallel with and directed into said first series of passages only; a second series of air supply slots beneath the rear portion of said grate parallel with and directed into said second series of passages only so that the air at the front and rear portions will be projected through said grate at angles to one another.

5. An endless travelling grate consisting of a series of grate bars lying in parallel relation across said grate, each of said bars comprising: a main supporting beam linked at its extremities to the beams of its two adjacent bars and having a series of spaced apart members having fuel supporting surfaces secured to and extending laterally across the top of said beam; upper deflecting prongs projecting from one side of said beam between and below said fuel supporting surfaces; a lower deflector prong projecting from the other side of said beam opposite each upper deflecting prong; said upper deflector prongs projecting laterally beyond the fuel supporting surfaces of said members, and overlying the lower defiector prongs of the next adjacent beam.

6. A fuel burner comprising: a series of traveling grate bars, said bars each consisting of a beam extending transversely of the line of travel and having a series of spaced-apart, transversely extending, T-shaped fuel supporting members extending across said beam with prongs projecting from said beam between and below the top of adjacent fuel supporting members so as to coact with the latter to form oppositely inclined passages at the sides of each prong; a first series of air orifices below one portion of said grate bars directing air upward on one side of said prongs; and a second series of air orifices below another portion of said grate directing air upwardly on the other side of said prongs.

'7. A fuel burner including a combustion bowl and a traveling grate underlying said bowl and having groups of air passages extending therethrough and arranged in rows, the adjacent passages in each row being oppositely inclined; a first series of air nozzles underlying one portion of said grate and cooperating with the overlying passages of like inclination; and a second series of air nozzles underlying a different portion of said grate and cooperating with the overlying passages of opposite inclination.

8. A fuel burner including a combustion bowl and a traveling grate underlying said bowl and having groups of air passages extending therethrough and arranged in rows, the adjacent passages in each row being oppositely inclined; a first series of air nozzles underlying one portion of said grate and cooperating with the overlying passages of like inclination; a second series of air nozzles underlying a different portion of said grate and cooperating with the overlying passages of opposite inclination, the said first portion of said grate being positioned beneath one side of said bowl; and the said second different portion of said grate being positioned beneath the opposite side of said bowl so as to impart a whirling action to the gases within said bowl.

HENRY J. KEELEY. 

